10/5: Big Pete Pearson kicks off Music in the Garden series

by Ed Masley - Oct. 3, 2012 11:07 AMThe Republic | azcentral.com

He's been rocking the local blues scene since the 1950s, picking up the unofficial title of Arizona's King of the Blues along the way. So how did Big Pete Pearson come to record his latest album, "Choose," in southern Italy with a band of young Italians called the Gamblers?

All concerts begin at 7 p.m. Admission is $15 for members; $21 general public.

"I did another album just before 'Choose' called 'The Screamer,' and I sent it overseas," the bandleader says. "I talked to this promoter over there, and he said, 'Pete, I'd like to bring you over. I've got a band for you. All I need is the material for the guys to learn.' I sent them the material, and two weeks later, I was on a plane. They're all Italian. They speak very little English, but they sure do play a lot of blues."

We caught up with Pearson, who celebrates his 76th birthday and his wedding anniversary with a performance today that launches the Desert Botanical Garden's Music in the Garden Series.

Question: How do you think this new album compares with your earlier efforts?

Answer: I think it's the hottest, to tell you the truth. "The Screamer" and "Choose" are really hitting it hard together, but I think "Choose" is beating it out.

Q: You were born in Jamaica, raised in Texas. How did you end up in Phoenix?

A: I moved here in the early '50s with my brother-in-law. He needed somebody to help him drive and haul furniture. He and his family were moving. So I helped him and he said, "You ought to stick around a little bit and see if you can get a good job, then go back and bring your family out." I said, "OK, I'll give it a week." And I managed to get a job. I moved my family out here, and I've been here ever since.

Q: So you had been playing in Austin, right?

A: I started playing guitar when I was 7. I worked with a spiritual group. And when they asked me to go play with them, I thought I was going to go play a church. ... When they stopped at the Triple J Bar -- I will never forget this -- I thought they were stopping to get cigarettes and they was gonna get back in and go. But they said, "OK, let's unload." I said, "This is a bar. This ain't church." They said, "If you can play the blues, you've got a chance to show us what you can do." I went over good, and everybody thought I was a hot little cookie at the time.

We got a steady job playing there just about every other week. We only made $1.50 a night (laughs). But the guy was taking it out of the tip jar, paying us and then keeping the rest. So we wised up and started taking all the big money out of the jar and leaving him coins. He finally said, "OK, you guys aren't doing very good. I'm gonna have to let you go." (laughs).

Q: Was it hard to walk away from Austin?

A: Not really. I got a chance to back some good musicians, Big Joe Turner, Junior Parker, Little Willie John. But they was all already hitting it. I was just a nobody playing bass. Then, when I moved away, I started trying to figure out how to do things on my own.

Q: Did it take you long to break into the Phoenix blues scene?

A: Not really. I didn't know nobody when I first moved, but I would talk to the guys at my job. "Do you know where they're playing any music here in town?" They said, "Yeah, man. You have to go down to the V." I said "The V?" That's what they called the VFW. So I went there. It was this little shanty, and I couldn't even get close to the place, there were so many people. So I started working with a lot of the local musicians down there every Monday night.

Q: What do you think when you look back on all you've accomplished since then?

A: If I had to do it all over again, I'd like to do it the same way I just did it.